The penultimate game decides the playoff

I felt it was a shocking defeat for the Kings XI the other day against Pune Supergiant at the Maharashtra Cricket Association in Pune. In the first innings, Punjab were bowled out for a mere score of 73 in 12 overs. This was the lowest score for Punjab in IPL history. The second innings was very easy for Pune to qualify for the Playoffs.

Punjab lost five wickets quickly as Shardul Thakur took a 3 wicket haul of the batsmen Shaun Marsh, Rahul Tewatia and skipper Glenn Maxwell.

Then, it looked like Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel would help Punjab with their partnership but Daniel Christian took both their wickets which were edged back to MS Dhoni for a comfortable catch. Adam Zampa ended the Punjab innings early by taking the wickets of Ishant and Mohit Sharma.

The second innings started well with Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi building the innings but Axar Patel bowled a slower ball to Tripathi taking his wicket. Rahane continued alongside skipper Steve Smith to finish the innings. There was a chance to take his wicket but it was dropped by Martin Guptill.

The Rising Pune Supergiant will play the Qualifier 1 against the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede, Mumbai. Kings XI Punjab finish at fifth place and are knocked out of the tournament. None of the players seem to have taken the game seriously in playing a responsible innings to take the team to a winning position.

Vinit Vijay is 11 years old and stays in Mumbai. His hobbies are reading books and playing cricket. His favourite books are Amar Chitra Katha, Harry Potter and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. His favourite cricketers are MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.